LANE CITY, WHARTON COUNTY - The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) has broken ground on the 1,100-acre, $250 million Lane City Reservoir.

The Reservoir will hold about 40,000 acre-feet of water — more water than is in lakes Marble Falls, Austin and Lady Bird combined.

The off-channel reservoir in Wharton County will reduce demands on th​​​​e Highland Lakes and benefit everyone who depends on water from the lakes and lower Colorado River.

The reservoir is the first project that will allow LCRA to store significant amounts of water near the Texas Gulf Coast, more than 220 river miles downstream from the Highland Lakes in the Texas Hill Country.

The water could be used and the reservoir refilled multiple times per year, making it capable of adding up to 90,000 acre-feet of firm water to the region's supply. An acre-foot of water is 325,851 gallons.

At the height of the project construction, LCRA estimates more than 100 people will be employed at the site. About 60 to 70 percent of the project workers are expected to come from the Wharton County area.

The Lane City Reservoir will be constructed off the main channel of the Colorado River.

The location will allow LCRA to take advantage of the wetter climate in the lower basin, and capture runoff from rain and available water in the river downstream of Lake Travis.